Vancouver is freaking out over a diesel slick that will disappear in hours

DH Vancouver StaffApr 15, 2016 2:48 pm

It seems Vancouver freaked out a little after reports surfaced of a diesel slick hanging out on the surface of English Bay.

It’s hardly surprising that people are on high alert considering last year’s disastrous oil spill from the M.V. Marathassa, but the city needs to take a chill pill. The slick was reported at about 10:30 this morning to the Coast Guard who quickly determined it was light fuel that can’t be recovered.

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“It’s not uncommon for a sheen of this type,” Dan Bate with the Canadian Coast Guard tells Vancity Buzz. “That’s a very micron-thin layer of fuel on the surface of the water that we’re not able to pick up, but you can see it spread quite a fair distance away.”

In fact, Bate says it won’t be disturbing the waters of English Bay for very long.

“My sense is that, in the next few hours – I’d say by 5 o’clock – it’s probably going to be dissipated.”

Bate adds there won’t be any environmental impact (or much of anything, really) from this slick.

So if you happen to spot it in the waters of English Bay in the next few hours, don’t panic. Everything will be fine. Even the humpback whale.